March 20, 1998 Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129 Visit the Conference Website at <http://lrej.uoregon.edu> EUGENE--A free conference at the University of Oregon will examine the ways in which the globalization of the economy and the development of new technologies are creating massive inequities in the workplace. The "Labor, Race and Economic Justice" conference, which is open to the public, will be held Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4, in the Ballroom at the Erb Memorial Union, 1222 E. 13th Ave. The UO Student-Faculty Task Force on Labor, Race and Justice is sponsoring the event. The task force was organized to educate the campus community about the links between the world economy and the social issues faced by today's workers. In conjunction with dozens of community groups, students, academic departments and the UO administration are providing funding for the conference. Speakers include Manning Marable, nationally known writer and social critic; Dolores Huerta, co-founder and secretary-treasurer of the United Farm Workers; Linda Chavez-Thompson, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO; Robert E. Wages, president of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union; Lora Jo Foo, an employment/labor attorney for the Asian Law Caucus; and Kent Wong, director of the Labor Center at the University of California at Los Angeles. "This conference will explore the impact of changing national and international economies with particular emphasis on the issues of race and gender in the workplace," says Margaret Hallock, director of the UO Labor, Education and Research Center, a sponsor of the event. "This is more than just a two-day conference," says UO senior and event coordinator Emily Lerma. "It's important to put the spotlight on these issues, but we also want to see the university make some long-range curricular changes to educate students in the basic issues facing today's workers--particularly women, children and minorities." The task force is proposing that the UO establish a Labor Studies Program on campus. The program calls for three classes: Introduction to Labor Studies, the Sociology of Labor, and International and Cross-Cultural Significance of Work and Economy. -30- #P-6076/Local,OrDailies,PDX,OrLaborPress